Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance
The enacted budget makes the following changes to the Executive Budget (analysis as of March 31, 2005):
- The Legislature approved the Governor’s proposal to transfer the Welfare to Work program from DOL to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).
- The Legislature’s budget decreases State Operations appropriations by $6.4 million, or 1.5%, from $431.6 million to $425.2 million. This reduction comes entirely from two appropriations within the Systems Support and Informational Services program for the welfare management system:
· a $1.4 million reduction in the Maintenance Undistributed appropriation from $61.9 million to $60.5 million
· a $5 million reduction from $30 million to $25 million in Special Revenue – Federal funds.
The 30 day amendments to the Executive Budget recommend the following changes (analysis as of February 14, 2005):
- Adds $927,000 to General Fund Personal Service within the Temporary and Disability Assistance Program.
The Executive Budget recommends (analysis as of January 20, 2005):
· The transfer of the Welfare-to-Work program in the Department of Labor to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) effective April 1, 2005. 185 DOL employees in the Welfare-to-Work program will be transferred to OTDA under section 70.1 of the Civil Service Law. The Executive Budget attributes no cost savings to this proposal but notes that federal reauthorization of the TANF program will likely include increased work participation rates and the elimination of caseload reduction credits that currently help the State to meet current work participation requirements. It also notes that the State faces a potential $360 million penalty if it does not meet new federal work participation rates. It should also be noted that the Welfare-to-Work program was originally administered in the old Department of Social Services until its breakup under the Pataki administration in 1996 into several new agencies including OTDA.
The Executive Budget shows the transfer of these 185 FTEs into a new OTDA Employment Services program, however, there is no funding provided for this program in the appropriation bill. We suspect the intent is to transfer of these funds from DOL, but that mechanism is not evident. This issue needs to be clarified at Labor/Management.
· An FTE level of 2,532, which represents an increase of 185 FTE from the adjusted SFY 2004-05 level. All of the increase would come from the shift of welfare-to-work program staff from the Department of Labor to the OTDA.
· An overall increase of State Operations funding of $5.9 million (1.4 percent). This includes an increase of $4.1 million (8.9 percent) in General Fund support, a decrease of $5.4 million (2.4 percent) in Special Revenue – Federal, and an increase of $7.2 million (4.8 percent) in Special Revenue – Other.
· A $2.6 million increase (30%) in personal services in the Administration Program from the SFY 2004-05 appropriation. This increase is not associated with an increase in FTEs in SFY 2005-06. The Summary of Personal Service Appropriations and Changes in the budget shows an increase of only $241,000 for SFY 2005-06, indicating that the increase was an adjustment to the current year appropriation, even though there were no FTE increases in this program in SFY2004-05. This discrepancy should be questioned in Labor/Management as it may reflect contracting out.
· An increase of $3.4 million (11.3 percent) in Child Support Enforcement, primarily reflecting the increase of $3 million in the Child Support Incentive Revenue Account (Special Revenue-other). $2.3 million of this increase is in a Maintenance Undistributed appropriation within this account which can be used for any purpose. This appropriation increase should be questioned in Labor/Management as it may reflect contracting out.
· A net increase of $8.6 million (5.2 percent) in Disability Determinations. This primarily reflects changes in the Federal Health and Human Services Fund, including an increase of $7 million (10.3%) in personal services and a reduction of $4 million (6.6%) in nonpersonal services.
· An increase of $1.3 million (11 %) in Legal Affairs, with the entire amount going to personal services.
· A net decrease of $5.8 million (4.2 %) in Systems Support Services, reflecting an increase of $1 million in personal services (17 %), a $21.5 million increase (252.9%) in the Federal Health and Human Services Fund, and a $30 million decrease (75%) in the Federal USDA Food and Nutrition Services Fund. The impact of this overall funding decrease and the shift of funds into different accounts is unclear except that it will not result in the loss of state employees during SFY2005-06. This issue needs to be clarified at Labor/Management.
· A decrease of $3.3 million, or (46.5 percent) in the Transitional Support and Policy Program, primarily reflecting the elimination of $3.6 million in the Federal Refugee Settlement Account. Personal service in this program increases by $341,000 (23.5 percent) but does not reflect an increase in FTEs. This discrepancy should be clarified at Labor/Management.
· “Adjustments” of $3.3 million in State Operations which are not specified. The justification for and the impact of this reduction in funding should be questioned in Labor/Management.
· Article VII legislation would make the following changes to the public assistance program:
§ Realign the amount of earnings an individual may retain while receiving public assistance based upon the length of time an individual has been on welfare
§ Reduce the Safety Net work participation rate for singles from 90% to 50% and enforce penalties
§ Authorize withholding of the entire welfare grant if the head of the household does not fulfill his or her employment obligation
Program Details - State Operations
Enacted
Proposed
Enacted
Change in
Percent
Program
2004-05 Budget
2005-06 Budget
2005-06 Budget
Appropriation
Change
All Funds
$424,763,000
$431,637,000
$425,239,000
$476,000
0.1%
General Fund
$46,620,000
$51,680,000
$50,282,000
$3,662,000
7.9%
Special Revenue-Federal
$227,386,000
$222,000,000
$217,000,000
($10,386,000)
-4.6%
Special Revenue-Other
$149,557,000
$156,757,000
$156,757,000
$7,200,000
4.8%
Internal Services Fund
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$0
0.0%
Administration Program
$49,983,000
$52,739,000
$52,739,000
$2,756,000
5.5%
Personal Services
$8,565,000
$11,134,000
$11,134,000
$2,569,000
30.0%
Nonpersonal Service
$8,443,000
$8,443,000
$8,443,000
$0
0.0%
Maintenance Undist.
$5,025,000
$5,112,000
$5,112,000
$87,000
1.7%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$0
0.0%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$19,750,000
$19,850,000
$19,850,000
$100,000
0.5%
Internal Services Fund (INS)
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$0
0.0%
HHS Fund - (SRF)
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$7,000,000
$0
0.0%
Food Stamp Recovery Acct - (SRO)
$1,350,000
$1,350,000
$1,350,000
$0
0.0%
OTDA Program Acct - (SRO)
$7,500,000
$7,500,000
$7,500,000
$0
0.0%
State Match Acct. - (SRO)
$2,100,000
$2,000,000
$2,000,000
($100,000)
-4.8%
OTDA Training Contract Acct (SRO)
$8,100,000
$8,300,000
$8,300,000
$200,000
2.5%
Training, Mgmt & Evaluation Acct - (SRO)
$700,000
$700,000
$700,000
$0
0.0%
Quick Copy Center Acct - (INS)
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$1,200,000
$0
0.0%
Departmental Administrative Reimb. Pgm
$3,569,000
$3,569,000
$3,569,000
$0
0.0%
Maintenance Undist.
($71,963,000)
($75,463,000)
($75,463,000)
($3,500,000)
4.9%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$75,532,000
$79,032,000
$79,032,000
$3,500,000
4.6%
Soc. Serv. Income Acct - (SRO)
$75,532,000
$79,032,000
$79,032,000
$3,500,000
4.6%
Child Support Enforcement
$30,100,000
$33,500,000
$33,500,000
$3,400,000
11.3%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$3,100,000
$3,500,000
$3,500,000
$400,000
12.9%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$27,000,000
$30,000,000
$30,000,000
$3,000,000
11.1%
Child Support Acct - (SRF)
$3,100,000
$3,500,000
$3,500,000
$400,000
12.9%
Child Support Incentive Revenue Acct - (SRO)
$27,000,000
$30,000,000
$30,000,000
$3,000,000
11.1%
Personal Services
$3,405,000
$3,729,700
$3,729,700
$324,700
9.5%
Nonpersonal Service
$538,000
$538,000
$538,000
$0
0.0%
Fringe Benefits
$1,559,000
$1,814,200
$1,814,200
$255,200
16.4%
Svcs & Expenses
$795,000
$870,000
$870,000
$75,000
9.4%
Maintenance Undistributed
$20,703,000
$23,048,100
$23,048,100
$2,345,100
11.3%
Disability Determinations
$166,900,000
$175,500,000
$175,500,000
$8,600,000
5.2%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$158,000,000
$166,000,000
$166,000,000
$8,000,000
5.1%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$8,900,000
$9,500,000
$9,500,000
$600,000
6.7%
HHS Fund - (SRF)
$158,000,000
$166,000,000
$166,000,000
$8,000,000
5.1%
Personal Service
$68,000,000
$75,000,000
$75,000,000
$7,000,000
10.3%
Nonpersonal Service
$61,000,000
$57,000,000
$57,000,000
($4,000,000)
-6.6%
Fringe Benefits
$29,000,000
$34,000,000
$34,000,000
$5,000,000
17.2%
Disability Determinations Acct - (SRO)
$2,600,000
$3,200,000
$3,200,000
$600,000
23.1%
Disability Determ. Earned Revenue Acct - (SRO)
$6,300,000
$6,300,000
$6,300,000
$0
0.0%
Executive Direction
$1,846,000
$1,818,000
$1,818,000
($28,000)
-1.5%
Personal Services
$1,546,000
$1,518,000
$1,518,000
($28,000)
-1.8%
Nonpersonal Service
$300,000
$300,000
$300,000
$0
0.0%
Legal Affairs
$12,063,000
$13,390,000
$13,390,000
$1,327,000
11.0%
Personal Services
$9,441,000
$10,768,000
$10,768,000
$1,327,000
14.1%
Nonpersonal Service
$2,622,000
$2,622,000
$2,622,000
$0
0.0%
Systems Support & Informational Services
$138,934,000
$133,132,000
$126,734,000
($12,200,000)
-8.8%
Personal Services
$6,314,000
$7,388,000
$7,388,000
$1,074,000
17.0%
Nonpersonal Service
$10,546,000
$10,772,000
$10,772,000
$226,000
2.1%
Maintenance Undist.
$60,474,000
$61,872,000
$60,474,000
$0
0.0%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$48,500,000
$40,000,000
$35,000,000
($13,500,000)
-27.8%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$13,100,000
$13,100,000
$13,100,000
$0
0.0%
USDA-Food & Nutrition Services Fund - (SRF)
$40,000,000
$10,000,000
$10,000,000
($30,000,000)
-75.0%
HHS Fund - (SRF)
$8,500,000
$30,000,000
$25,000,000
$16,500,000
194.1%
Client Notices Acct - (SRO)
$6,800,000
$6,800,000
$6,800,000
$0
0.0%
Multiagency Systems Dev Acct. - (SRO)
$6,300,000
$6,300,000
$6,300,000
$0
0.0%
Temporary & Disability Assistance Program
$14,267,000
$14,189,000
$14,189,000
($78,000)
-0.5%
Personal Services
$2,748,000
$4,264,000
$4,264,000
$1,516,000
55.2%
Nonpersonal Service
$875,000
$925,000
$925,000
$50,000
5.7%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$6,644,000
$5,000,000
$5,000,000
($1,644,000)
-24.7%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$4,000,000
$4,000,000
$4,000,000
$0
0.0%
USDA-Food & Nutrition Services Acct - (SRF)
$1,644,000
$0
$0
($1,644,000)
-100.0%
Block Grant Fund - (SRF)
$5,000,000
$5,000,000
$5,000,000
$0
0.0%
HEAP Earned Revenue Acct - (SRO)
$4,000,000
$4,000,000
$4,000,000
$0
0.0%
Transitional Support and Policy Program
$7,101,000
$3,800,000
$3,800,000
($3,301,000)
-46.5%
Personal Service
$1,452,000
$1,793,000
$1,793,000
$341,000
23.5%
Non-personal Service
$232,000
$232,000
$232,000
$0
0.0%
Special Revenue-Federal (SRF)
$4,142,000
$500,000
$500,000
($3,642,000)
-87.9%
Special Revenue-Other (SRO)
$1,275,000
$1,275,000
$1,275,000
$0
0.0%
Refugee Settlement Acct - (SRF)
$3,642,000
$0
$0
($3,642,000)
-100.0%
Personal Service
$1,300,000
$0
$0
($1,300,000)
-100.0%
Nonpersonal Service
$1,900,000
$0
$0
($1,900,000)
-100.0%
Fringe Benefits
$442,000
$0
$0
($442,000)
-100.0%
Misc. Grant Acct - (SRF)
$500,000
$500,000
$500,000
$0
0.0%
Homeless Housing Asst. - (SRO)
$1,275,000
$1,275,000
$1,275,000
$0
0.0%
Personal Service
$870,000
$824,000
$824,000
($46,000)
-5.3%
Nonpersonal Service
$58,300
$50,000
$50,000
($8,300)
-14.2%
Fringe Benefits
$346,700
$401,000
$401,000
$54,300
15.7%